Water Hazard and Murphy at Ranch in 2017

At the Ranch in Arizona, I keep water trickling for a water hole. It is the only reliable water for about three miles in any direction. I have a game camera there, and sometimes obtain interesting photographs, like the bobcat and coyote interaction above from a couple of months ago. The water hole is about 15 yards from the backstop of the pistol range. Some of the water pipe was exposed over the last few years.

My bother and I were at the range, shooting 170 grain cast lead .40 caliber projectiles at a half silhouette steel target. After watching me fire a few rounds, my brother heard a hissing noise. Following the sound lead to finding water spurting out of cracks in the half inch, schedule 40 water pipe.

I expected to dig a lead fragment out of the schedule 40 PCB pipe, in the middle of the 2 inch long cracks. Close examination revealed no projectile had penetrated the pipe. Instead, the fragment had hit the pipe and bounced off, leaving the lead smear shown, and cracking the pipe in the process. The pipe was hit was about ten yards from the steel half silhouette target.

The repair was simple, once the parts and glue were retrieved. I am convinced good shooting glasses would have stopped the fragment as well as the schedule 40 PCB did.

The fragment had to ricochet nearly 90 degrees from the line of fire. After the repairs, I made sure the pipe was covered with dirt. That had been the original condition. Over the years, it had worked its way out of the shallow trench.

The incident reaffirmed my belief in wearing shooting glasses. It reinforces the old saw that if anything can go wrong, it will. Murphy’s wisdom was shown at the water hazard at the Ranch.